Free or low cost PDF viewer ocx?

[Al Reid]

Does any one know of a free or low cost PDF Viewer control. I need to
update an app that used the one provided with older versions of the Adobe
Reader. This is a one time app so I can't spread the cost over a number of
users.

Thanks!

[Nobody]

Post by Al Reid
Does any one know of a free or low cost PDF Viewer control. I need to
update an app that used the one provided with older versions of the Adobe
Reader. This is a one time app so I can't spread the cost over a number
of users.

This one is a viewer, not OCX, but it's open source. It seems to have been
written in unmanaged C++ 2005:

http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/index.html

This one is also free, but not OCX. It doesn't require installation, it's
available as ZIP without installation, or with an installer. They allow you
to freely redistribute it according to their FAQ. Personally I use it
instead of Acrobat because it starts and shows PDF files in a fraction of a
second.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/showfaq_sales.htm#otr_06

A quick search for ActiveX PDF viewer shows a minimum of $250.

[mayayana]

Post by Nobody
This one is also free, but not OCX. It doesn't require installation, it's
available as ZIP without installation, or with an installer. They allow you
to freely redistribute it according to their FAQ. Personally I use it
instead of Acrobat because it starts and shows PDF files in a fraction of a
second.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/showfaq_sales.htm#otr_06

I've also used Foxit for some time. Acrobat is
a pig AND a security risk. But for Al Reid: Note
that the free version has a small ad for the "Pro"
version on the toolbar.That may or may not be
acceptable in your product.

[Al Reid]

Post by mayayana

Post by Nobody
This one is also free, but not OCX. It doesn't require installation, it's
available as ZIP without installation, or with an installer. They allow

you

Post by Nobody
to freely redistribute it according to their FAQ. Personally I use it
instead of Acrobat because it starts and shows PDF files in a fraction of

a

Post by Nobody
second.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/showfaq_sales.htm#otr_06

I've also used Foxit for some time. Acrobat is
a pig AND a security risk. But for Al Reid: Note
that the free version has a small ad for the "Pro"
version on the toolbar.That may or may not be
acceptable in your product.

Thanks, mayayana. At least for now I'll continue to search for an ocx.

[Al Reid]

Post by Nobody

Post by Al Reid
Does any one know of a free or low cost PDF Viewer control. I need to
update an app that used the one provided with older versions of the Adobe
Reader. This is a one time app so I can't spread the cost over a number
of users.

This one is a viewer, not OCX, but it's open source. It seems to have been
http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/index.html
This one is also free, but not OCX. It doesn't require installation, it's
available as ZIP without installation, or with an installer. They allow
you to freely redistribute it according to their FAQ. Personally I use it
instead of Acrobat because it starts and shows PDF files in a fraction of
a second.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/showfaq_sales.htm#otr_06
A quick search for ActiveX PDF viewer shows a minimum of $250.

Thanks, Nobody. I really need an OCX for this app, but I'll save the links
you provided for future reference.

I found one that costs $110.00 and I just downloaded it for evaluation.

[r***@yourpeivacation.com]

Did you ever find an OCX suitable for viewer PDF's. I am searching for
a similar compenent.

[Al Reid]

Post by r***@yourpeivacation.com
Did you ever find an OCX suitable for viewer PDF's. I am searching for
a similar compenent.

I'm currently evaluating a product called Image Viewer CP Pro.
http://www.viscomsoft.com/products/imageviewercppro/index.html

It seems to do what I need plus a whole lot of extra features. At $110.00
it's the lowest cost ActiveX PDF viewer control I have found so far.

--
Al Reid

[Rick Raisley]

Post by Al Reid

Post by r***@yourpeivacation.com
Did you ever find an OCX suitable for viewer PDF's. I am searching for
a similar compenent.

I'm currently evaluating a product called Image Viewer CP Pro.
http://www.viscomsoft.com/products/imageviewercppro/index.html
It seems to do what I need plus a whole lot of extra features. At $110.00
it's the lowest cost ActiveX PDF viewer control I have found so far.

I use Image Viewer CP Pro, and like it, but it has its limits. For example,
clarity of PDF viewing and printing is limited. Compare a printout or view
from it, zoomed in, with Adobe or Adobe's OCX: Night and day difference.
Adobe zooms in until a given character fills the screen with extreme
sharpness, and more. Image Viewer gets really fuzzy way before that.
Apparently IV CP Pro converts PDFs to a bitmap before viewing, printing or
saving. It can also separate pages of a PDF, something I wanted to do, but
the quality is unacceptable. I'm looking at going back to Adobe's OCX to get
true clarity of viewing and printing, because our shop and office consider
the printouts from Image Viewer PDFs unacceptable. And yes, I've played with
all the settings, and contacted support.

Also, watch out if/when you/they change to newer versions of the control.
They keep the OCX name and all the same, but break backward compatibility by
changing the way some functions work, or eliminate others in favor of "new
improved" functions. I had to write code that purposely produces errors
which I trap, in order to programmatically determine what version is being
used, then calls different routines for simple things like scale to fit or
rotate, depending on the version. As the PDF clarity wasn't improving, I
ended up abandoning the newer versions (which I paid extra for) and keeping
the old.

[Rick Raisley]

I forgot to mention that if you are looking to /save/ your files as PDF from
the Image Viewer control, it saves as a BMP, eliminating all the characters,
resulting in a much larger file. As I said, I really like the control, but
not its limitations, so am always looking for something better.
--
Regards,

Rick Raisley
heavymetal-A-T-bellsouth-D-O-T-net

Post by Rick Raisley

Post by Al Reid

Post by r***@yourpeivacation.com
Did you ever find an OCX suitable for viewer PDF's. I am searching for
a similar compenent.

I'm currently evaluating a product called Image Viewer CP Pro.
http://www.viscomsoft.com/products/imageviewercppro/index.html
It seems to do what I need plus a whole lot of extra features. At
$110.00 it's the lowest cost ActiveX PDF viewer control I have found so
far.

I use Image Viewer CP Pro, and like it, but it has its limits. For
example, clarity of PDF viewing and printing is limited. Compare a
printout or view from it, zoomed in, with Adobe or Adobe's OCX: Night and
day difference. Adobe zooms in until a given character fills the screen
with extreme sharpness, and more. Image Viewer gets really fuzzy way
before that. Apparently IV CP Pro converts PDFs to a bitmap before
viewing, printing or saving. It can also separate pages of a PDF,
something I wanted to do, but the quality is unacceptable. I'm looking at
going back to Adobe's OCX to get true clarity of viewing and printing,
because our shop and office consider the printouts from Image Viewer PDFs
unacceptable. And yes, I've played with all the settings, and contacted
support.
Also, watch out if/when you/they change to newer versions of the control.
They keep the OCX name and all the same, but break backward compatibility
by changing the way some functions work, or eliminate others in favor of
"new improved" functions. I had to write code that purposely produces
errors which I trap, in order to programmatically determine what version
is being used, then calls different routines for simple things like scale
to fit or rotate, depending on the version. As the PDF clarity wasn't
improving, I ended up abandoning the newer versions (which I paid extra
for) and keeping the old.
--
Regards,
Rick Raisley
heavymetal-A-T-bellsouth-D-O-T-net

[Jeremiah D. Seitz]

On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 16:24:20 -0400, "Rick Raisley"

Post by Rick Raisley
I forgot to mention that if you are looking to /save/ your files as PDF from
the Image Viewer control, it saves as a BMP, eliminating all the characters,
resulting in a much larger file. As I said, I really like the control, but
not its limitations, so am always looking for something better.

Maybe try your hand at writing your own? I'm pretty sure the official
PDF specs are still available. When I looked at them way back when, it
didn't seem to like it would be too difficult to parse. The most
difficult part would be decompressing the resources.

J.
Jeremiah D. Seitz
Omega Techware
http://www.omegatechware.net